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My Dell 5150 Review

post #1 of 20
1/9/04 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 
I received my 5150 about 2 weeks ago now. I have not found one problem with the notebook, as everything is running smooth. My specs are in my signature.

the UXGA is absolutely stunning!! I can't believe how crisp and clear it is. I set the text back down to 96dpi instead of the 120 it is shipped with and that helped make it perfect. I cant believe how amazing the screen is. Sure its a bit small but I got used to it already and would not think about going any lower with the resolution. Counter-Strike looks awesome set at that resolution also.

My DVD/CD Burner works great also, not problems there what so ever. I have no burned a DVD yet though, but I am not expecting much problems.

The keyboard is sturdy and I have no problems with it. Its not mushy in any areas and its wonderful to type on. Sure some keys are in weird spots but its not that big of a deal. Nothing you cant get used to real quick.

My 7200rpm 60 GB drive is super speedy. I couldnt imagine what its like working on a 4200 drive. All my applications open quickly and never had any lag. I did however give my notebook a fresh install of XP and kept all the dell stuff off. That helped the performance a great deal. Right when I got the notebook I noticed it took it a good 30 sec or so to shut down. The fresh install cured this as it shuts down in mere seconds now. Besides, who needs all that Dell junk anyways. I downloaded certain things like the DVD viewing software and I have Winamp pro to burn and rip CDs.. so I am set.

I have not tried the wireless connection yet, due to not having a wireless router. I do have high speed net access and it works A-OK on my machine.

If anyone has any questions, I am a very happy 5150 owner and will do my best to answer them. I would love to hear from anyone else who has had nothing but success with their 5150s.
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post #2 of 20
1/9/04 at 2:18pm
What graphics card comes in the 5150?
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post #3 of 20
1/9/04 at 3:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Durjaya
What graphics card comes in the 5150?
It comes with the 32 Meg Nvidia GeForce Go5200.. I of course upgraded to the 64 meg version of this card. Its been running my games fine. I am not a big gamer but I do play Counter Strike a lot... and it runs that super smoothly
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post #4 of 20
1/9/04 at 8:03pm
How would compare the 5150 to say the 8600, or the 600m?
I am debating among these three along with the latitude d600.
Only thing about the 5150 is its weight. How much does your weigh roughly?

thanks

jeff
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post #5 of 20
1/10/04 at 3:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jclogston
How would compare the 5150 to say the 8600, or the 600m?
I am debating among these three along with the latitude d600.
Only thing about the 5150 is its weight. How much does your weigh roughly?

thanks

jeff
It does weigh around 9 pounds. But for me its OK, because mine is a desktop replacement. So I didnt mind the weight. I mean its not that heavy, but I guess among others out there it is up there as one of the heaviest these days.

I was having a hard time deciding between the 8600 and the 5150, but I eventually chose the 5150 because I didnt want the widescreen. Also, the centrino really wasnt important either since this notebook is plugged into the wall outlet 99 percent of the time. The keyboard is firm which makes me quite happpy. Those were my deciding factors, any more questions dont hesitate to ask.

I will be taking some pics this weekend and will put them up in the picture part of these forums
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post #6 of 20
1/31/04 at 5:27am

Another new 5150 owner

Saw your review of your new 5150 . Had a chance to try out the battery life? I was told it can get up to 4 hrs, large capacity 96 watt-hr. cell. I ordered mine last week, they're a little slow getting it ready , should be here Feb 9 they say. I got the UXGA screen, 7200 60 gig drive, base 256mb ram, ordered 2 - 512 mb ddr pc2700 for $217 from a 3rd party vendor, got the DVD+RW upgrade, XP Pro and 1400 wireless card. Maybe a mistake getting the 1400 wireless . I was informed that the "a" band is almost nonexistent. Probably could have gotten by with the cheaper 1300 card w/b & g bands. Also getting a Logitech wireless notebook mouse and Linksys wireless G router from Outpost.com, and a Case Logic KNC-3 soft case to protect everything from Ewiz.com. My Logitech Navigator Duo wireless keyboard and mouse for my desktop system is the best thing I ever bought, love them both. You mentioned you reinstalled XP to get rid of the Dell bloatware. Did you wipe the HD or just do a reinstall? I heard you must hang onto the Dell drivers CD, or do you have your own copy of XP (Home or Pro?) with serial code sticker?
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post #7 of 20
1/31/04 at 11:12am
Thread Starter 
I whiped out the harddrive and didnt install the Dell crap. It runs a whole lot better.. and boots up and shuts down much quicker than out of the box
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post #8 of 20
1/31/04 at 11:15am
KingSnake.. we need to play Counter-Strike sometime, I play a lot with my friends (we have a little lan team) PM me with your Steamid.. I'll add you to friends
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post #9 of 20
1/31/04 at 1:30pm

More Questions...

I am in the process also of selecting a laptop and am undecided on the dell models... The 5150 has the processor power & fast ram & fast hard drive but the 5200 Go is the only option at this point in time. i don't want the bigger 8600 and the Lattitudes have the slower processors.
Anyway, my company uses Dell so i need to select a unit. I do on off times would like to hook up to my home network and play a few games. (when work at home gets a bit demanding)

Have you attempted to run any other more recent games? If you have how do they play??

Thanks!!
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post #10 of 20
1/31/04 at 4:41pm
there a bit bigger bit there lighter you can be assured that much and thinner
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post #11 of 20
2/1/04 at 11:26am

Hey Machina...

Are you saying that the 8600 is a bit bigger but it is lighter and thinner than the 5150??

Second question.... Do you think the Lattitudes or the 5150 will have more powerfull vid cards available soon?? Like the higher "GO" INVIDIA or the Radeon 9600 pro Turbo like the 8600. dell always seems to offer cutting edge technology if you can afford it... It's odd that they are holding back here on the smaller/lighter laptops.

I may have to go to a Dell Direct outlet (there is one in a mall about 30 miles from my home)

Thanks..
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post #12 of 20
2/1/04 at 8:53pm
Technically the 5150 is a budget laptop. Your offere dbleeding edge performance at a cost premium. If you want the best money can buy look towards the M60 , D800, I8600
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post #13 of 20
2/4/04 at 9:10am
Dear friends

I am about to buy the following laptop:

Dell Inspiron 5150
15 '' screen 1600 x 1200
3.06 Ghz HT P4
1 Gb RAM 1 chip
60 Gb HD 7200 rpm
64 Nvidia video card
Wireless

My questions to the list:

1. I can choose the 3.2 Ghz HT P4. Would it make a noticeable difference? I use mostly Office applications but i work having even up to 20 of them open

2. Is the processor running at lower speed as cited in many reviews? they say it runs at 1.6 Ghz and kicks up to 3 occasionally and then it becomes very hot. Is this true?

3. The 80 Ghz drive spins at 5400 rpm. Would this make a noticeable difference from the 60 @ 7200 rpm?

All responses would be greatly appreciated, I am about to buy one soon

BTW I had the Inspiron 8600 1.7 Ghz and it sucked, it took 4 secs to open Word!

Thanks

Antonios
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post #14 of 20
2/4/04 at 11:00am
That sounds like a good set up but i dont know what you could have done to make word load so slowly on the 8600 takes under 2 seconds here
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post #15 of 20
2/4/04 at 1:53pm

I wish Dell had an outlet...

I havent done nothing wrong i believe.

I installed Office XP and then opened word. DVD is jerky too. Anyhow I hate the screen on the 8600 I wonder why this 15.4 format is catching up.

How about my questions on the 5150, any suggestions?
Does the processor really run at lower speed as cited in many reviews? (it runs at 1.6 Ghz and kicks up to 3 occasionally and then it becomes very hot I read). Even Dell says the processor speed is limited by heat and power resources in its website

And about hard drives is the 80 Ghz drive which spins at 5400 rpm noticably slower than the 60 Gb which spins at 7200 rpm and has a higher cache as well? (8 vs 2?)

Please help!

A
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post #16 of 20
2/4/04 at 10:28pm
1. little to no difference

2. depends on power settings as is all notebooks

3. the performance isnt that much of a difference but some people prefer the knowledge of having such speed.
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post #17 of 20
3/27/04 at 4:17pm
Hi!!

With the higher power, the 5150 should generate quite more heat , how about the fans of these notebooks? Are they noisy?

Thanx!!
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post #18 of 20
3/27/04 at 6:58pm
The 5400RPM 80GB TravelStar I used to have on my D800 had an 8MB buffer...
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post #19 of 20
4/3/04 at 5:45am

Comparing Dells

Which is the best Dell notebook with a Pentium M and 15"+ screen? So far I like the 8600 or D800 but I think I need a non-widescreen because I mostly write emails, look at web pages and Word docs all day and want to avoid eye strain. So I'm also looking at the D505. Also want a quiet keyboard (silent if possible). Can I get a 8600 or D800 with a lower res non-widescreen 1024 x 768?

Chris
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post #20 of 20
4/3/04 at 7:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Antonios
I havent done nothing wrong i believe.

I installed Office XP and then opened word. DVD is jerky too. Anyhow I hate the screen on the 8600 I wonder why this 15.4 format is catching up.

How about my questions on the 5150, any suggestions?
Does the processor really run at lower speed as cited in many reviews? (it runs at 1.6 Ghz and kicks up to 3 occasionally and then it becomes very hot I read). Even Dell says the processor speed is limited by heat and power resources in its website

And about hard drives is the 80 Ghz drive which spins at 5400 rpm noticably slower than the 60 Gb which spins at 7200 rpm and has a higher cache as well? (8 vs 2?)

Please help!

A
So I'm coming in a little late here, but I would think the reason that Word, or any other application, might be opening slowly would be due to the HD speed. The standard in the 8600 is a 4200rpm HD. I'm not crazy about it, but it's not the end of the world.

There is a good article at Tom's Hardware Guide testing 3 different HD speeds. The article is aimed more towards power consumption with a faster HD, but there are some good speed related charts as well.

http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20031031/index.html
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